Claudia Roden

Moroccan almond snake

M’hencha

Preparation info

  • Serves

    15

    • Difficulty

      Medium

Appears in

The Cooking of the Middle East

The Cooking of the Middle East

By Claudia Roden

Published 1991

  • About

M’hencha means snake. It looks beautiful and tastes wonderful and you can make it as large as you like. Filio can be used instead of the Moroccan pancake-like pastry called ouarka. The quantities given make one that is big enough for a party.

Ingredients

  • 550 g (1 lb 2 oz) ground almonds
  • 375

Method

Mix together the ground almonds, sugar, cinnamon and orange-flower water or rose-water (just enough for it to be like moist sand) and work into a paste with your hands.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 4/180°C/350°F.

Take the sheets of filio out only when you are ready to s